European Supermoto at Poznan (Poland) – Day2

on2018-06-10

share

With some clouds in the sky but still very warm temperatures the track in Poznan was ready for the race day of the third round of the Supermoto European Championship. The organisation did its very best to make the event a success, and the riders loved every minute on the perfectly prepared track. After an eventful event on Sunday, it was Tuning Motorsport rider Milan Sitniansky who took the victory in the S1 class. In the S1 Light class it was again Phoenix Racing rider Elia Sammartin who took the victory.
Race1
The first race in Poznan saw 28 riders on the starting grid. At the start it was Degasoline rider Pavel Kejmar to take the holeshot into the first long fast corner of the circuit, followed by Phoenix Racing rider Markus and KTM MTR rider Laurent Fath. In fourth position it was TM Factory Racing rider Diego Monticelli who was followed by Milan Sitniansky on the Tuning Motorsport Honda. Right behind the top five Spanish Suzuki Grau rider David Gimenez had a good start and went into the first lap just in front of the Phoenix Racing rider Nicolas Cousin and SWM Factory rider Edgardo Borella. The teammate of Cousin at Phoenix Racing, Elia Sammartin was in ninth position after the first lap. SBD Union Bike rider Giovanni Bussei started the race in tenth place but after a crash in one of the fast corners he was thrown back to 21th place.
In front of the race Pavel Kejmar and Markus Class slowly got away from the rest of the field. With very fast lap times, the two riders fought for every meter of asphalt and off-road. Behind them Laurent Fath and Diego Monticelli had their own battle for third place with Milan Sitnianksy not far behind in fifth position. David Gimenez was still in sixth position but the fast Spanish rider had to fight hard to keep his position as Nicolas Cousin, Edgardo Borella and Elia Sammartin were only a few meters behind.
In lap 12, SWM Factory rider Edgardo Borella managed to pass Nicolas Cousin for seventh place. The Italian rider wanted more but Gimenez didn’t make any mistakes and kept his speed high. One lap later also Elia Sammartin passed the young Frenchman leaving Cousin in ninth place with only a few laps to go.
In the lead Kejmar and Class were still fighting for first place. The German rider closed in on the Czech rider in fast corners and breaking zones but Kejmar was in full control and defended his leading position but setting fast lap times when it was needed.
The battle for third place was also still going on as Fath couldn’t get away from Monticelli. By the end of the first race Fath had a very little gap to the Italian rider but one mistake would mean a lost in positions. Milan Sitniansky was still in fifth position. The Czech rider tried to close the gap to the riders in front of him but he had to settle for fifth place in the first race. In front Markus Class pushed as hard as he could and in some corners was next to Pavel Kejmar but the Degasoline rider crossed the finish line in first place 00:164 seconds in front of Phoenix Racing rider Markus Class. KTM MTR rider finished in third place, followed by Diego Monticelli. Last place in the top five was Milan Sitnianksy. David Gimenez managed to keep the Italian riders Borella and Sammartin behind him and finish in a strong sixth position.

Race2
At the start of the second race it was again Pavel Kejmar the first to enter the long right hander of the track. Kejmar was followed by Markus Class, Diego Monticelli and Laurent Fath. In fifth position it was Milan Sitniansky in front of Giovanni Bussei and Elia Sammartin. Egardo Borella was in eight position fighting with Nicolas Cousin and David Gimenez. As in the first race Kejmar and Class were strong from the beginning and already in the first lap they created a gap to their competitors. Markus Class pushed hard as he wanted revenge for his second place in the first race, but Pavel Kejmar kept the door closed. Behind the top two, three riders started a battle for third position. Monticelli, Fath and Sitniansky had some very close racing with no room for mistakes. Sitniansky was last of this group but the Czech Honda rider got better and better into his rhythm and in lap 9 he overtook both Monticelli and Fath in the same corner.
SWM Factory rider Edgardo Borella crashed hard in the off-road section and was brought to the medical centre on the track for treatment. Also Giovanni Bussei made a mistake and had to restart the race from 16th position. With Borella out and Bussei thrown back in the field, Elia Sammartin and David Gimenez moved up to sixth and seventh position behind Lauren Fath. In eight position it was Phoenix Racing rider Nicolas Cousin who had to recover from a bad start. In front it was still Pavel Kejmar who had the lead halfway the race. The Czech TM rider had managed to create a gap to Markus Class who had to slow down because of some backmarkers and yellow flags. The German rider had to find his rhythm again as Sitniansky and Monticelii were closing in fast on him. Class got the speed back real quickly and after one or two laps he had a safe distance to the followers in third place again.
Behind Sitniansky it was still Diego Monticelli in fourth just in front of Lauren Fath who didn’t give up, but couldn’t make any overtaking attempts on this the riders in front of him. Meanwhile the battle for the sixth place was still going on among Sammartin, Gimenez and Cousin, the Italian rider of Phoenix Racing was the strongest and finished the race in sixth position before David Gimenez and his teammate Nicolas Cousin.
Pavel Kejmar finished in first, followed by Markus Class and Tuning Motorsport rider Milan Sitniansky. Fourth place was for Diego Monticelli while Laurent Fath completed the top five. Immediately after the race the race direction and jury gave a lot of riders penalties for jumping under the yellow and medical flag or overtaking in the yellow zone. One of the riders who got penalties was the race winner Pavel Kejmar who was put back 10 positions, but also Markus Class, Laurent Fath, Diego Monticelli and many others got a penalty. With the penalties given Milan Sitniansky was the official winner of the second race in Poland, with second place for Elia Sammartin. Belgium KTM MTR rider Romain Kaivers was classified third in race two. With his results in the first and second race, Milan Sitniansky became the winner of the round of Poland. Second place in the overall for Elia Sammartin.Pavel Kejmar completed the podium in Poznan after his penalty.
The next round of the 2018 Supermoto European Championship will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece in the weekend of 14 and 15 July.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/559